


Sometimes Quiet Isn't So Bad

by thegirlwhochosetostay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Dance Dance Revolution - Freeform, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Game Night, Good Slytherins, Happy Ending, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts House Sorting, Implied Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter, Next Generation, Next-Gen, Oblivious James Sirius Potter, Oblivious Scorpius Malfoy, Poor Teddy, Quidditch, S'mores, Slytherin Albus Severus Potter, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Truth or Dare, Veritaserum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 12:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18315158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwhochosetostay/pseuds/thegirlwhochosetostay
Summary: Albus has always been good at noticing things other people don't. Which was how Albus had found himself wanting to scream at James and Teddy to just confess to each other while he sat in the middle of their tension-filled flat for game night.





	Sometimes Quiet Isn't So Bad

**Author's Note:**

> For the Jeddyfest prompt by @fidgety_weirdo on tumblr: Albus has always been observant. Being more quiet and reserved than the rest of his family has always given him more opportunities to listen and learn. There's no doubt that Teddy and James' relationship has an inevitability to it that no one else has seemed to notice... yet.
> 
> Much love to Natasha @scarshavestories on tumblr for being an AMAZING beta reader and providing really helpful feedback. I'm no longer scared to get beta read because of you so thank you :)

Harry Potter had three children: James, Lily, and Albus. 

James Sirius Potter was the oldest, the loudest, and the proudest of the Potter children. James was what you’d expect of a child who came from a Weasley and a Potter: the embodiment of Gryffindor, McGonagall’s worst nightmare, and Oliver Wood’s biggest dream. He was outspoken and his presence filled the room. James was an equal mix of his parents. He had tan skin and messy hair like his father, and like his mother chocolate brown eyes and more freckles than there were stars in the sky. His hair was auburn, something neither of his parents had, but the perfect mix of them. James was everything his parents were, but he didn’t need his parents’ fame to boost him. 

James had made a name for himself the day he told the sorting hat exactly where he belonged in front of the entirety of Hogwarts. “I already know, Gryffindor!” James had all but screamed as the hat muttered something about a Weasley-Potter. (He could’ve sworn he heard the hat say ‘bloody hell’ before it shouted Gryffindor to the rest of the hall.) James lived up to his sorting as he was unapologetically himself, not sparing a moment to ponder on what anyone else thought of him. James was bold, kind, and courageous. It took him no time to make friends from every house and every year. James Potter was the boy every boy wanted to be and every girl wanted to snog.

Lily Luna Potter was the youngest, the smartest, and the scariest of the Potter children. Lily let no one touch her brothers, regardless of the fact that she was younger than both of them. She had grades that could rival her aunt’s and a bat bogey hex to compete with her mother’s. Lily was everything her parents were, while also being everything that they weren’t. She was a brilliant beater and a daring student, but she stuck to the school rules. She did not, however, stick to society’s rules. Lily spoke up when she felt things were wrong. Lily was the most Slytherin-like Gryffindor McGonagall had ever met and she was certain the only reason the hat had said Gryffindor was because of her bright red hair. Lily had fair skin and blue eyes like her uncle Ron. She was skin and bones and stood out from everyone else, but that didn’t stop her from being fancied by every boy in her year (and a few from the other years as well). Lily Potter needed no one. She was self-dependent, despite having two older brothers and many other older cousins at Hogwarts. Lily was a perfect balance of brains, brawn, and beauty. 

And then, there was Albus.

Albus Severus Potter was nothing like his parents or siblings. He was quiet, cold, and a Slytherin. Albus would’ve been sure he’d been adopted if he didn’t look like a carbon copy of his father (an unruly mess of jet black hair, green eyes, and a crooked smile) with his mother’s pale skin. Albus wasn’t like his brother, he hated Quidditch and talking to people he didn’t know and being the centere of attention. He wasn’t like his sister, he hated school and defending other people and standing out. Albus wasn’t a saviour like his father. He wasn’t a hero like his mother. Albus didn’t care much for others. He liked music and sticking to himself and when the time came, well, he liked Scorpius. Albus was withdrawn and closed off and preferred self-preservation to protecting others. But, being quiet and brooding had left Albus with another quality. Albus was observant and aware. Albus’ quietness allowed him to notice things others were too busy being loud to see. 

Sometimes, it was a good thing, his ability to notice things others didn’t. Like when he started to notice that Scorpius often watched him read on the couch in the Slytherin common room. Scorpius never stopped watching, even after they started dating. He was also happy to see how his godbrother Teddy seemed less worried about what was going to happen to him, with his gran being ill, once he had moved in full-time with the Potters the summer after Teddy’s 15th birthday.

Sometimes, Albus wished he wasn’t so observant, including when he noticed that his parents were drifting apart; how his mum seemed to have more weekend quidditch practices and his dad started working longer hours at the ministry. He also didn’t like noticing how after his parent’s divorce, his dad seemed to talk about Mr. Malfoy more and more.

(Albus didn’t quite mind so much though, when Mr. Malfoy and Scorpius moved into his dad’s house)

Other times, Albus didn’t know what to think about the things that he noticed that others didn’t. 

Because of his observant disposition, Albus had always known to some extent that it would be James and Teddy in the end. He couldn’t remember the first time he noticed the way things were between Teddy and James were. In fact, as far back as Albus could remember James and Teddy had been closer than most people he knew. Of course, they were best friends. It didn’t seem to matter how far apart they were in age, they had an unbreakable bond that Albus seemed to be the only one to notice.

Albus noticed how during the summers, James and Teddy always made sure they were on the same quidditch team when the cousins played matches in the back garden of the Burrow. He noticed how James always gave Teddy some of his chocolate so he could have extra for his ‘smores, though he knew James liked the chocolate just as much. Albus noticed how Teddy always bought James a packet of sugar quills when they went to Diagon Alley because Teddy had pocket money and James didn’t yet. 

Over the summer that Teddy moved in, Albus noticed James sneaking out of their room at night, and watched him come out of Teddy’s in the morning. The observance of posters spello-taped to James’ side of the room that matched the covers of the comics laid out on the floor of Teddy’s room made Albus think that perhaps James spent the night reading with Teddy. That, in addition to the fact that James always seemed tired in the middle of the day. 

Later that summer when Teddy’s gran passed, Albus noticed James sleeping outside of Teddy’s door on the mornings that he woke up before James. He noticed how, on the days that Teddy spent locked away in his room, James would slide a chocolate bar under the crack of the door and leave a plate of food in front of it. Albus noticed how, on those days, James seemed too quiet to be James and that he pushed his food around his plate instead of eating it. 

Albus noticed how, on the days that Teddy did come out of his room, he only spoke to James.

When Teddy was away at Hogwarts, Albus noticed how eager James was on Tuesdays, which was the day that Teddy had promised to owl him every week. James would spend far too long reading comics by the kitchen window on those days, instead of playing Gobstones with him or going out into the garden with Lily. 

Years later, when James was 11 and preparing to head to Hogwarts, Albus noticed that he and Teddy rarely talked about anything else. When their dad said something about James being a true Gryffindor, James got quiet. Teddy would try to reassure him, saying that it was okay and that they’d still see each other around the castle. Albus noticed that after Teddy said that James seemed a little bit more okay with being a Gryffindor and even started to embrace it, wearing the red and gold socks that his gran had knitted for his birthday proudly, and talking non stop about the famous people that came from Gryffindor (other than his parents).

Albus noticed a lot of things about James and Teddy, but the biggest thing that he noticed was that they were better friends than Albus and James had ever been. Albus wasn’t exactly jealous of that. Sure, he liked James, he was his brother and all. But James wasn’t exactly the kind of person that Albus wanted to talk to about his problems. Albus wasn’t upset that James had a better friend than him, someone that he could tell all of his secrets to, that he could go on adventures with. Albus just hoped that someday he’d have a friend like that.

Once he found Scorpius, Albus didn’t have to hope anymore. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Years later Albus no longer the problem of finding a friendship like James and Teddy had. The new problem was that recently, Albus had noticed that James and Teddy seemed to have a little bit more than friendship on their minds. 

Which was how Albus had found himself wanting to scream at James and Teddy to just confess to each other while he sat in the middle of their tension-filled flat for game night while Scorpius obliviously nursed his second butterbeer and laughed as they bickered over which song to compete to on Dance Dance Revolution. 

“We can’t do that song Teds! I’d get distracted...” James muttered the second half of the sentence under his breath as a flush rose to his ears. 

“Scared a little arse action from me will distract you Jamie?” Teddy laughed playfully as he gave his hips a small wiggle. Albus almost snorted on his drink. James suggested Whistle by Flo Rida, but Teddy shot down the suggestion muttering something about the dance not being PG-13 for Scorpius’ sake. That time, Albus did choke on his drink. Three sets of eyes turned to look at him and he started laughing. He just couldn’t help it. 

As the night went on, things only got worse. 

Albus had to watch James and Teddy get more and more handsy the later it got. They weren’t drinking, they were tired, but to Albus both seemed to have the same effect. Albus and Scorpius were sitting on the floor, Scorpius sitting in his boyfriend’s lap, while Teddy and James sat on their couch. James had had his feet in Teddy’s lap while they sat on opposite ends of the couch at the start of truth or dare, but as the game progressed James got closer to Teddy and was now resting his head against Teddy’s shoulder. Teddy didn’t seem to mind, though his neck was flush red and the ends of his hair kept flickering between different shades of red and pink. Albus noticed that there was enough veritaserum for one more truth and decided that since James and Scorpius were asleep, it would be the best time to ask the question that had been recurring in his mind all night. Albus saw the way that Teddy looked at James, but he had to hear it from him. 

“Since they’re asleep, truth or dare Albus,” Teddy eyed the veritaserum bottle and Albus knew he must’ve noticed the same thing he had. “Dare,” Albus answered, a smirk that only a Slytherin could pull off coming across his face. Albus wasn’t going to let Teddy out of this. 

“I dare you to wake up James,” Teddy said, and Albus internally cursed. He wasn’t planning on making Teddy confess, he just wanted to know how his godbrother felt. Oh well, guess they’d have to kill two birds with one stone tonight, he thought as he picked up his wand. “Rictusempra,” Albus murmured and pointed his wand at James just like he had done the entire summer after he graduated, delighting in the fact that he could now use magic at home to wake his brother. 

James started to stir and then sat up. “Wassir, huh, I’m up, I’m up,” he mumbled and Teddy smiled. James quickly straightened up after realising he had been resting on Teddy’s shoulder. “Sorry Jamie, Teds dared me to wake you up, kind of unfortunate for him,” he said turning his attention to Teddy as a look of confusion came across the (currently) blue haired boy’s face. “Truth or dare, Teds,” Albus said with a polite smile, knowing Teddy was out of dares. “Truth,” Teddy whispered and put the veritaserum to his lips, tilting his head back before downing the remainder of the vial. “How do you feel about James?” Albus proposed as Teddy looked at him. Almost immediately, Teddy blurted out “I love him,” and Albus watched different emotions flicker across James face before he opened his mouth again. “As a friend or more?” Albus questioned. James started to interject “hey, that’s more than one truth-” but was cut off as Teddy tried very hard to close his mouth before letting go. “More.”

Albus watched as Teddy’s hair turned a brilliant mix of pink at the ends that faded into red and yellow at the roots. James’ mouth dropped open and he gaped at Teddy. “What?” James said, once he was able to close his mouth. 

“I love you as more than a friend Jamie,” Teddy said and Albus tried very hard not to smile as Teddy turned to face James. “I love you like, well I don’t know what like, but I know I love you as much more than a friend,” Albus watched him search James’ eyes for a reaction, for some response to what he had said. “What do you mean?” James asked and Albus thought it was a good thing Scorpius was asleep otherwise he may have gotten up and screamed in James’ face for his stupidity. Albus settled for rolling his eyes. Teddy shrugged. “I mean, I love everything about you Jamie. I love your messy morning hair, and how you sing while you’re cooking, and how you take up way too much space. I love how kind you are to everyone and how you’re the same person no matter who you’re around, you feel no need to change for others. I love your smile and your laugh. I love you,” James just looked into Teddy’s eyes, searching them for any hint that he wasn’t telling the truth, which he couldn’t find. Albus covered his eyes with Scorpius head, but peeked a little as he watched James lean forward and put his lips on Teddy’s. Their kiss was sweet and slow and Teddy pulled James into his lap before breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against James’ and pulling him closer to his chest. “I love you too,” James whispered, and the smile on Teddy’s face made Albus certain that he had done the right thing.

Sure, sometimes Albus wished he didn’t notice so much. But tonight, tonight he was glad that he was good at observing the little things. Seeing the way Teddy and James were looking at each other, he thought they just might agree.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh wow! This is my first time for a lot of things. Posting for a fest, being beta read, writing for a prompt, and more! I don't know if this is exactly what the prompter was looking for but I hope that you like it! This was a lot of fun to write and is at the moment my favorite piece I've written. I hope you enjoyed it!


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